Image to embroidery file converter

An embroidery machine cannot read a picture. It reads a list of needle positions — where to stab, in what order, in which colour. Turning artwork into that list is called digitizing, and it is normally done by hand in software costing hundreds or thousands.

This converter runs Stitchist's auto-digitizer on your image. It reduces the artwork to a workable palette, traces each colour region into a clean outline, decides whether each region should be a filled area or a satin column, works out the stitch angle, sequences the regions so the machine changes thread as little as possible, and adds the underlay and pull compensation that stop the design puckering.

Flat artwork with clear areas of colour converts best: logos, lettering, line art, simple illustrations. Photographs do not — there is no such thing as a photographic stitch, and any tool promising one is guessing.

PNG gives the cleanest trace, because it stores exact pixels and keeps edges crisp. JPG works too, though its compression softens edges and scatters halo pixels that the tracer reads as extra colours. WebP behaves like whichever of the two it was saved as.

PES is Brother's home-machine format and carries its own colour information, so the design reaches the machine already knowing which thread goes where.

The PES written here is a real machine file for Brother, Baby Lock and Bernina Deco machines. As with any digitized design, test-stitch on scrap with the same stabilizer before you commit to the final piece.